TACOMA, Wash. -- A Pierce County council committee has approved a plan to lay off 16 corrections officers and shut down sections of its $50 million jail.
County officials say they don't have the money to staff the jail, even though taxpayers paid to keep it full. Now some are wondering if that tax money was wasted.
Thirty-eight county jail inmates are currently being housed in a area that was designed to handle more than 80 people. In the next few days, the pod will be shut down, like another right next to it. The end result will be that half of the $50 million facility will be empty.
Washington Inmate Look Up / Search Jail Rosters
Taxpayers approved a .5 percent sales tax hike to pay for the jail and keep it fully staffed. Even inmates think the taxpayers were cheated.
Yes, the citizens of Washington paid for this jail to be built and it can't even be used, said inmate Justin Gosenberg. It's a waste. A waste of money, period.
I wouldn't be able to say whether it was a mistake or not, he said. I think the times dictated that they needed a new jail.
New Mental Health Program Helping Washoe County Jail Inmates
But in its 10 years of operation, the jail's newer section has never been full. And now local city jails are offering lower rates to have police bring those arrested for misdemeanors to them.
The loss of business for the Pierce County regional jail is leading to a $5 million hole, and the committee voted for layoffs.
It sucks going into a career field where you think you're stable and always have that. There's always going to be criminals and people who get themselves in trouble, she said.
Pierce County Looking To Get Inmate Income Back
County officials say just because the jail isn't full doesn't mean inmates are being released early. They're simply going to other jails in the region that are able to offer lower prices.SEATTLE — Washington judges have begun holding the state’s health services agency in contempt and are ordering sanctions for each day the state fails to provide competency evaluations and treatment for mentally ill people held in county jails.
The sanctions range from $200 to $500 for each day the defendant sits in a cell instead of being treated at one of two psychiatric hospitals. By Wednesday, the fines were approaching $100, 000, an Associated Press investigation found.
Besides violating a defendant’s constitutional right to due process and a speedy trial, holding them in jail without treatment “may also be a violation of their Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment, ” said Pierce County Superior Judge Frank Cuthbertson, who has filed about a dozen orders this year.
Mug Shots Fort Pierce Fl St Lucie County Jail Mugshots, Lucie County Sheriff's Office; Fort Pierce Police Department; Port St
“We’ve had clinical staff from the hospital testify in open court and admit that locking people in a jail cell who have a chronic or acute mental illness actually makes them worse, ” Cuth- bertson said. “It exacerbates their condition.”
He said he knows the state is strapped for money, so contempt orders are not the solution, “but I feel the state has to be compelled to fulfill its constitutional obligation.”
Jane Beyer, an assistant secretary for the Department of Social and Health Services, said she and other officials are aware of the courts’ concerns.
Financial Woes Could Lead To Layoffs At Pierce County Jail
“DSHS agrees that waiting too long in jail is not appropriate and delays the treatment mentally ill people need to assist in their own defense, ” Beyer said. “By and large, the courts have recognized that DSHS cannot solve this issue on its own and without additional funding.”
When mentally ill people are charged with crimes but are unable to help in their defense, judges routinely order competency evaluations. If the defendant is found incompetent, judges order treatment to have competency restored.
But a shortage of beds at Western and Eastern state hospitals has resulted in long evaluation wait lists and delays that run up to 60 days, records show.
An Inside Peek Into The Montezuma County Jail
Jenna Henderson, a public defender in Olympia, said a Thurston County judge did the same thing for one of her clients. The judge released the defendant while he remained on the competency evaluation wait list.
Abbey Perkins, a King County public defender, said earlier this year that judges responded to her motions with contempt orders and sanctions. But when the orders were filed, those particular defendants were moved to the top of the wait lists and transported for treatment.
The AP collected more than a dozen contempt orders dating back to July. Some inmates were moved after 12 days to 27 days and the sanctions stopped. But in other cases, the fines continue.
Washington County Jail
“Our jail population is exploding because these folks are being held here, ” he said. “I believe while they’re here, the state should not be allowed to pass the buck. It should compensate the county while they’re detained.”
0 Komentar